Growth and band alignment of Bi2Se3 topological insulator on H-terminated Si(111) van der Waals surface

The van der Waals epitaxy of single crystalline Bi2Se3 film was achieved on hydrogen passivated Si(111) (H:Si) substrate by physical vapor deposition. Valence band structures of Bi2Se3/H:Si heterojunction were investigated by X-ray Photoemission Spectroscopy and Ultraviolet Photoemission Spectroscopy. The measured Schottky barrier height at the Bi2Se3-H:Si interface was 0.31 eV. The findings pave the way for economically preparing heterojunctions and multilayers of layered compound families of topological insulators.

Current induced anisotropic magnetoresistance in topological insulator films

Topological insulators are insulating in the bulk but possess spin-momentum locked metallic surface states protected by time-reversal symmetry. The existence of these surface states has been confirmed by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Detecting these surface states by transport measurement, which might at first appear to be the most direct avenue, was shown to be much more challenging than expected. Here, we report a detailed electronic transport study in high quality Bi2Se3 topological insulator thin films. Measurements under in-plane magnetic field, along and perpendicular to the bias current show opposite magnetoresistance. We argue that this contrasting behavior is related to the locking of the spin and current direction providing evidence for helical spin structure of the topological surface states.